The art prize for the nation's artists, judged by the nation's artists.

Hosted by the Home of Australian Artists.

After a year hiatus, our innovative $10,000 art prize is back when Australian artists need it most. While many art prizes have been postponed or cancelled due to COVID lockdowns and restrictions, we've been working hard behind the scenes to make our Bluethumb Art Prize 2020 the biggest and best yet.

By partnering with 1 Denison, the new home of Nine and tallest building in North Sydney, Grand Designs Australia Magazine and Eckersley's Art & Craft, not only can we offer more opportunities for artists to step into the spotlight with more category awards, we can also offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the winning artists. The prizes include a winners exhibition at 1 Denison early next year, a 4 page editorial in 2021's first edition of Grand Designs Australia Magazine and $500 Eckersley's Art & Craft gift vouchers to spend on art supplies.

How to Enter

Entries are open now until 31st October 2020. Entry is easy, free and non-acquisitive. Any artist with a Bluethumb profile (which is also free) either lists their new entry or chooses an existing unsold listing created this year (the artwork must be exclusively available on Bluethumb throughout the prize process) and then ticks the checkbox in the My Artwork section of their profile to enter it into the prize. It really is that simple. The selected artwork will appear on this page and can be changed at any time until entries close. By removing barriers and opening access to all Australian artists, we get more entries than any other major art prize and incredibly diverse artists. Please click here for all the Ts & Cs (scroll to the bottom of the page) before entering.

Using the experience and learnings from our previous two prizes, plus our deep understanding of the current digital climate and leveraging our huge growth, we're making this year our biggest and best yet. In 2018 we brought in more categories to help more artists. This year we're doing the same and changing the category prizes to our most popular collections. Plus we're introducing the new Artists' Choice Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft, voted for by the nation's artists.

Due to the ongoing uncertainty of holding events, we're hosting the awards ceremony virtually on Instagram Live on November 26, building on our highly successful lockdown events. We're then having a winners exhibition in early 2021 at 1 Denison. Our judging panel includes some of Australia's most-renowned artists from diverse backgrounds and practices to ensure our panel is inclusive and qualified. This will ensure awesome and inclusive results.

Thanks to our sponsors 1 Denison, Grand Designs Australia Magazine and Eckersley's Art & Craft, we're able to offer more prizes than ever this year and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our artists.

Category Awards

Each category award winner will be invited to exhibit at the Bluethumb Art Prize Winners exhibition at 1 Denison next year. They'll also receive a $500 Eckersley's Art & Craft gift voucher to stock up on art supplies, plus a Bluethumb marketing package worth $1,000 to further boost their online presence and sales. As if that wasn't already enough, the winners will be featured in a 4 page editorial about them and the prize in Grand Designs Australia Magazine in January 2021. With all these once-in-a-lifetime prizes along with the notoriety of winning, our category award winners are sure to have an incredible 2021!

• Abstract Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft
• Landscape Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft
• Portrait Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft
• Still Life Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft
• Photography Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft

People's & Artists' Choice

These awards are voted for by the public and Bluethumb artists respectively. The voting will stay open past the awards night on 26th November to get as many votes as possible and the winners announced just before Christmas. The winners will get the best Christmas present ever: a $500 Eckersley's Art & Craft gift voucher and a Bluethumb marketing package worth $1,000. They'll also be invited to exhibit at the Bluethumb Art Prize Winners exhibition at 1 Denison next year.

• People's Choice Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft
• Artists' Choice Award sponsored by Eckersley's Art & Craft

Remember how we said our prize would be judged by Australia's most-renowned artists? We weren't lying! This panel will not only pick great winners, but will get our prize and our artists national attention. The finalists will be shortlisted by the Bluethumb selection panel before being handed over to our judges. The panel includes our Art Advisor Amélia Davis, Interior Designer Alexandra Stavrou, Content Extraordinaire Megan George and Bluethumb Art Prize Director Freddy Grant.